March 2020 File Photo provided by Gov. Wolf
Wolf: Creating Centralized Vaccine Registration “Not Off the Table”
HARRISBURG – Many Pennsylvania residents have been urging state officials to create a centralized vaccine registration system, as more local providers are flooded with high call volumes. Now, discussions to create a centralized system may be starting, after Department of Health officials have repeatedly said the state wasn’t considering it. During a news conference Thursday, Governor Tom Wolf says talks to create a centralized system ‘are not off the table’:
“I wouldn’t want to trade that where you can at least walk to the place or drive to the place. With a centralized one you may also have problems. We need to make sure what we do is make this accessible and easy to use and people can actually get the vaccine as quickly as possible,” Wolf said.
Meanwhile, Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said at a recent news conference that providers are favoring their own registration systems instead of a centralized system.
“They want to make sure people are getting care even after that vaccine and so we have heard a preference from provides to not be duplicative in putting out additional software. Providers have invested and where they have invested, we should allow them use that technology,” Beam said.
The governor says forming a centralized system is expected to be discussed during the first meeting of the newly formed Legislative Task Force on Vaccine Distribution.
